SECOND DIVISION 2.

02 Prompt and faithful payment of all the foregoing promissory notes was
secured by the following deeds of assignment executed by
G.R. No. 153827 April 25, 2006 ASIAKONSTRUKT in favor of PCIBANK:

ASIAN CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT (a) Deed of Assignment of Receivables/Contract Proceeds dated
CORPORATION, Petitioner, 20 July 1994… where ASIAKONSTRUKT assigned its receivables
vs. from its Contract … with the National Power Corporation (NPC) in
PHILIPPINE COMMERCIAL INTERNATIONAL BANK, Respondent. the amount of ….P54,500,000;

DECISION (b) Deed of Assignment of Receivables … dated 28 June 1995 …

where ASIAKONSTRUKT assigned its receivables from its Contract
… with the NPC in the amount of …P26,281,000.00;
GARCIA, J.:
(c) Deed of Assignment of Receivables dated 28 August 1995 …
In this petition for review under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, petitioner where ASIAKONSTRUKT assigned its receivables from its Sub-
Asian Construction and Development Corporation or "ASIAKONSTRUKT," Contract with ABB Power, Inc., in the amount of P43,000,000.00;
seeks the reversal and setting aside of the decision 1dated March 15, 2002
and the Resolution2 dated June 3, 2002 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-
G.R. CV No. 68189. The assailed decision affirm with modification the (d) Deed of Assignment of Contract Proceeds dated 27 March 1996
Summary Judgment rendered by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Makati … where ASIAKONSTRUKT assigned its receivables from its
City in an action for a sum of money thereat commenced by the herein contracts with PNOC … in the aggregate amount
respondent, Philippine Commercial International Bank (PCIBANK) against of P46,000,000.00; and
the petitioner, while the challenged resolution denied petitioner’s motion for
reconsideration. (e) Deed of Assignment of Contract Proceeds … dated 20 February
1997 … where ASIAKONSTRUKT assigned its receivables from
The facts: the Ormat Philippines, Inc., in the aggregate amount of
US$3,350,000.00;
On February 24, 1999, in the RTC of Makati City, respondent PCIBANK filed
a complaint3 for a sum of money with prayer for a writ of preliminary 2.03 All the foregoing deeds of assignments stipulate, among others, the
attachment against petitioner ASIAKONSTRUKT. Docketed as Civil Case following terms and conditions:
No. 99-432, the complaint alleged, inter alia, as follows:
a) The assignment is for the purpose of securing payment of the
FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION principal amount and the interests and bank charges accruing
thereon, the costs of collecting the same and all other expenses
which PCIBANK may be put in connection with or as an incident of
2.01 On various occasions, ASIAKONSTRUKT obtained U.S. dollar the assignment;
denominated credit accommodations from PCIBANK in the amount of Four
Million Four Hundred Eighty Seven Thousand U.S. dollars
(US$4,487,000.00), exclusive of interests, charges and fees thereon and the b) That the assignment secures also any extension or renewal of
cost of collecting the same. These credit accommodations are covered by the credit which is the subject thereof as any and all other
the following promissory notes: obligations of ASIAKONSTRUKT of whatever kind and nature as
appear in the records of PCIBANK, which ASIAKONSTRUKT
accepts as the final and conclusive evidence of such obligations to
xxx xxx xxx
 PCIBANK, "whether contracted before, during or after the 4.02 … as a result of the fraudulent acts of ASIAKONSTRUKT, PCIBANK
constitution of [the assignment agreement]"; suffered the following damages, all of which ASIAKONSTRUKT must be
held to pay PCIBANK:
c) That PCIBANK authorizes ASIAKONSTRUKT, at the latter’s
expense, to "collect and receive for [PCIBANK] all the 4.02.1 Exemplary damages, in the interest of public good and purposes of
Receivables"; and correction, in the amount of not less than ….P50,000.00;

d) That ASIAKONSTRUKT "shall have no right, and agrees not to 4.02.2 Attorney’s fees in the amount of not less than …. P1,800,000.00; and
use any of the proceeds of any collections, it being agreed by the
parties that [ASIAKONSTRUKT] divests itself of all the rights, title 4.02.3 Costs of suit.
and interest in said Receivables and the proceeds of the collection
received thereon."1avvphil.net
In support of its prayer for a writ of preliminary attachment embodied in the
complaint, plaintiff PCIBANK alleges the following:
2.04 The promissory notes have remained not fully paid despite their having
become due and demandable. Repeated verbal and written demands were
made upon ASIAKONSTRUKT, but to no avail. It has failed and refused, and 3.02 … ASIAKONSTRUKT is guilty of fraud in contracting the debt, in the
continues to fail and refuse, to pay its outstanding obligations to performance thereof, or both, xxx;
PCIBANK…;
303. PCIBANK agreed to enter into the above-mentioned credit
2.05 As a result of ASIAKONSTRUKT’s refusal to pay its outstanding accommodations primarily because of the existence of the deeds of
obligations, PCIBANK was constrained to refer the matter … to counsel and assignment listed above. However, from telephone inquiries made with
thus incur attorney’s fees and legal costs. responsible officers of the National Power Corporation, ABB Power, Inc.,
PNOC and Ormat Philippines, Inc., PCIBANK was surprised to learn that
ASIAKONSTRUKT had long ago collected the contract proceeds, or portions
2.06 The aggregate unpaid obligation of ASIAKONSTRUKT to PCIBANK, as thereof, which were previously assigned to PCIBANK. However, to date, it
of 31 December 1998, amounts to… US$4,553,446.06, broken down as has yet to turn over these proceeds to PCIBANK. Worse, PCIBANK learned
follows: that the contract proceeds were used by ASIAKONSTRUKT for its own
purposes – clear evidence of fraud, which has deprived PCIBANK of its
security. ASIAKONSTRUKT’s unauthorized use of the contract proceeds for
Principal US$ 4,067,867.23
its own purposes was subsequently confirmed by Mr. Napoleon Garcia, Vice
Interest US$ 291,263.27 President for Finance of ASIAKONSTRUKT, in a telephone discussion on 12
January 1999 with Ms. Maricel E. Salaveria of PCIBANK. xxx Needless to
Penalties US$ 194,315.56 say, ASIAKONSTRUKT has fraudulently collected such receivables to the
prejudice of PCIBANK.

TOTAL US$ 4,553,446.06 3.04 … it is evident that ASIAKONSTRUKT never had any intention of
complying with the deeds of assignment. ASIAKONSTRUKT only misled
PCIBANK into believing that it had sufficient security to ensure payment of
For its second cause of action, PCIBANK alleged in the same complaint as its loan obligations.
follows:
3.05 Alternatively, granting, in argumenti gratia, that ASIAKONSTRUKT, at
SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION the time it executed the foregoing deeds of assignment, really intended to
abide by their terms and conditions, it nevertheless committed manifest
fraud when it collected the contract proceeds, and instead of remitting them therefore partake of the nature of contracts of adhesion, leaving the
to PCIBANK, used them for its own purposes. defendant to the alternative of "taking it or leaving it." By way of
counterclaim, defendant prayed for an award of P1,000,000.00 as and for
In an order4 dated April 13, 1999, the trial court, after receiving ex parte attorney’s fees and P200,000.00 as litigation expenses.
PCIBANK’s evidence in support of its prayer for preliminary attachment,
directed the issuance of the desired writ, thus: On January 24, 2000, plaintiff PCIBANK filed a verified Motion for Summary
Judgment,6 therein contending that the defenses interposed by the
WHEREFORE, let a writ of preliminary attachment issue against all the defendant are sham and contrived, that the alleged financial crisis pleaded in
property of defendant not exempt from execution or so much thereof as may the Answer is not a fortuitous event that would excuse debtors from their
be sufficient to satisfy plaintiff’s principal claim of US$4,553,446.06, loan obligations, nor is it an exempting circumstance under Article 1262 of
representing the alleged unpaid obligation of defendant, inclusive of interest the New Civil Code where, as here, the same is attended by bad faith. In the
and penalty charges, as of December 31, 1998, which is equivalent same motion, PCIBANK also asserts that the deeds of assignments
to P174,260,380.72, upon plaintiff’s filing of a bond in an equal amount to executed in its favor are not contracts of adhesion, and even if they were,
answer for all it may sustain by reason of the attachment if the Court shall the same are valid.
finally adjudge that plaintiff was not entitled thereto.
To the Motion for Summary Judgment, defendant interposed an
SO ORDERED. Opposition7 insisting that its Answer tendered or raised genuine and
substantial issues of material facts which require full-blown trial, namely:
With plaintiff PCIBANK having posted the requisite bond, a writ of
preliminary attachment was thereafter issued by the trial court. Per records, 1. Whether or not defendant received all or part of the
defendant ASIAKONSTRUKT did not file any motion for the quashal or proceeds/receivables due from the contracts mentioned in the
dissolution of the writ. deeds of assignment at the time the complaint was filed;

Meanwhile, on August 27, 1999, defendant ASIAKONSTRUKT filed its 2. Granting that defendant received those proceeds/receivables,
Answer,5 thereunder making admissions and denials. Defendant admits, whether or not defendant fraudulently misappropriated the same;
subject to its defenses, the material allegations of the Complaint as regards
its indebtedness to plaintiff PCIBANK and its execution of the various deeds 3. Whether or not defendant is virtually insolvent as a result of the
of assignment enumerated therein. It, however, denies, for lack of regionwide economic crisis that hit Asia, causing the Philippine
knowledge sufficient to form a belief as to the truth thereof, the averments in peso to depreciate drastically; and
the Complaint that it has not paid, despite demands, its due and
demandable obligations, as well as the amounts due the plaintiff as itemized 4. Whether the parties dealt with each other on equal footing with
in paragraph 2.06, supra, of the Complaint. It likewise denies PCIBANK’s respect to the execution of the deeds of assignment as to give the
allegations in the same Complaint in support of its prayer for a writ of defendant an honest opportunity to reject the onerous terms
preliminary attachment, particularly its having fraudulently misappropriated imposed therein.
for its own use the contract proceeds/receivables under the contracts
mentioned in the several deeds of assignments, claiming in this respect that
it has still remaining receivables from those contracts. Significantly, defendant did not append to its aforementioned Opposition any
affidavit in support of the alleged genuine issues of material facts mentioned
therein.
By way of defenses, defendant pleads in its Answer the alleged "severe
financial and currency crisis" which hit the Philippines in July 1997, which
adversely affected and ultimately put it out of business. Defendant adds that Before the pending incident (motion for summary judgment) could be
the deeds of assignments it executed in favor of PCIBANK were standard resolved by the trial court, plaintiff PCIBANK waived its claim for exemplary
forms proposed by the bank as pre-condition for the release of the loans and damages and agreed to reduce its claim for attorney’s fees
from P1,800,000.00 to P1,260,000.00, but made it clear that its waiver of IN THE LIGHT OF ALL THE FOREGOING, the appeal is PARTIALLY
exemplary damages and reduction of attorney’s fees are subject to the GRANTED. The "Decision" appealed from is AFFIRMED with the
condition that a full and final disposition of the case is obtained via summary MODIFICATION THAT THE AWARD FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES is reduced
judgment. to P1,000,000.00.

On May 16, 2000, the trial court, acting favorably on PCIBANK’s motion for SO ORDERED.
summary judgment, came out with its Summary Judgment,8 the decretal
portion of which reads: With its motion for reconsideration having been denied by the CA in its
Resolution10 of June 3, 2002, petitioner is now with us via the present
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered ordering defendant to pay recourse, raising the following issues:
plaintiff:
I WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS A GENUINE ISSUE AS TO A MATERIAL
1. the sum of US$4,553,446.06, or its equivalent in Philippine FACT WHICH RULES OUT THE PROPRIETY OF A SUMMARY
currency at the time of payment, with interest thereon at the rate of JUDGMENT.
8.27% per annum from February 24, 1999 until fully paid;
II WHETHER OR NOT THE AWARD OF ATTORNEY’S FEES IS
2. P1,260,000.00 as and for attorney’s fees; and EXORBITANT OR UNCONSCIONABLE.

3. the costs of suit. We DENY.

SO ORDERED. As in the two courts below, it is petitioner’s posture that summary judgment
is improper in this case because there are genuine issues of fact which have
Explains the trial court in rendering its Summary Judgment: to be threshed out during trial, to wit: (a) whether or not petitioner was able
to collect only a portion of the contract proceeds/receivables it was bound to
deliver, remit and tender to respondent under the several deeds of
A thorough examination of the parties’ pleadings and their respective stand assignment it executed in favor of the latter; and (b) whether or not petitioner
in the foregoing motion, the court finds that indeed with defendant’s fraudulently misappropriated and used for its benefit the said
admission of the first cause of action there remains no question of facts in proceeds/receivables. Ergo, so petitioner maintains, genuine triable issues
issue. Further, the proffered defenses are worthless, unsubstantial, sham of fact are present in this case, which thereby precludes rendition of
and contrived. summary judgment.

Considering that there is no more issue to be resolved, the court hereby We are not persuaded.
grants plaintiff’s Motion and renders Judgment in favor of the plaintiff against
the defendant based on their respective pleadings in accordance with
Section 4, Rule 35 of the Rules of Court. Under Rule 35 of the 1997 Rules of Procedure, as amended, except as to
the amount of damages, when there is no genuine issue as to any material
fact and the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law,
In time, petitioner went to the CA whereat its appellate recourse was summary judgment may be allowed.11 Summary or accelerated judgment is
docketed as CA-G.R. CV No. 68189. As stated at the threshold hereof, the a procedural technique aimed at weeding out sham claims or defenses at an
CA, in its decision9 of May 15, 2002, affirmed with modification the Summary early stage of litigation thereby avoiding the expense and loss of time
Judgment rendered by the trial court, the modification being as regards the involved in a trial.12
award for attorney’s fees which the CA reduced to P1,000,000.00, to wit:
Under the Rules, summary judgment is appropriate when there are no The [petitioner] elaborated on and catalogued its defenses in its "Appellants
genuine issues of fact which call for the presentation of evidence in a full- Brief" what it believed, as "genuine issues".
blown trial. Even if on their face the pleadings appear to raise issues, when
the affidavits, depositions and admissions show that such issues are not "(i) Whether or not [petitioner] received all or part of the
genuine, then summary judgment as prescribed by the Rules must ensue as proceeds/receivables due from the construction contracts at the
a matter of law. The determinative factor, therefore, in a motion for summary time the civil action was filed;
judgment, is the presence or absence of a genuine issue as to any material
fact.
(ii) Granting that [petitioner] received the proceeds/receivables from
the construction contracts, whether or not [petitioner] fraudulently
A "genuine issue" is an issue of fact which requires the presentation of misappropriated the same;
evidence as distinguished from a sham, fictitious, contrived or false claim.
When the facts as pleaded appear uncontested or undisputed, then there is
no real or genuine issue or question as to the facts, and summary judgment (iii) Whether or not [petitioner] had become virtually insolvent as a
is called for. The party who moves for summary judgment has the burden of result of the region-wide economic crisis that hit Asia, causing the
demonstrating clearly the absence of any genuine issue of fact, or that the Philippine peso to depreciate dramatically; and
issue posed in the complaint is patently unsubstantial so as not to constitute
a genuine issue for trial. Trial courts have limited authority to render (iv) Whether or not [respondent] and [petitioner] dealt with each
summary judgments and may do so only when there is clearly no genuine other on equal footing with respect to the execution of the deeds of
issue as to any material fact. When the facts as pleaded by the parties are assignment of receivables as to give [petitioner] an honest
disputed or contested, proceedings for summary judgment cannot take the opportunity to reject the onerous terms imposed on it."
place of trial.13
However, the [petitioner] failed to append, to its "Opposition" to the "Motion
The CA, in its challenged decision, stated and we are in full accord with it: for Summary Judgment", … "Affidavits" showing the factual basis for its
defenses of "extraordinary deflation," including facts, figures and data
In the present recourse, the [petitioner] relied not only on the judicial showing its financial condition before and after the economic crisis and that
admissions … in its pleadings, more specifically its "Answer" to the the crisis was the proximate cause of its financial distress. It bears stressing
complaint, the testimony of Maricel Salaveria as well as Exhibits "A" to "T-3", that the [petitioner] was burdened to demonstrate, by its "Affidavits" and
adduced in evidence by the [respondent], during the hearing on its plea for documentary evidence, that, indeed, the Philippines was engulfed in an
the issuance, by the Court a quo, of a writ of preliminary attachment. extraordinary deflation of the Philippine Peso and that the same was the
Significantly, the [petitioner] did not bother filing a motion for the quashal of proximate cause of the financial distress, it claimed, it suffered.
the "Writ" issued by the Court a quo.
xxx xxx xxx
It must be borne in mind, too, that the [petitioner] admitted, in its "Answer" …
the due execution and authenticity of the documents appended to the Where, on the basis of the records, inclusive of the pleadings of the parties,
complaint … . The [petitioner] did not deny its liability for the principal and the testimonial and documentary evidence adduced by the [respondent],
amount claimed by the [respondent] in its complaint. The [petitioner] merely supportive of its plea for a writ of preliminary attachment, the [respondent]
alleged, by way of defenses, that it failed to pay its account … because of had causes of action against the [petitioner], it behooved the [petitioner] to
the region-wide economic crisis that engulfed Asia, in July, 1997, and the controvert the same with affidavits/documentary evidence showing a prima
"Deeds of Assignment" executed by it in favor of the [respondent] were facie genuine defense. As the Appellate Court of Illinois so aptly declared:
contracts of adhesion:
The defendant must show that he has a bona fide defense to the action, one
xxx xxx xxx which he may be able to establish. It must be a plausible ground of defense,
something fairly arguable and of a substantial character. This he must show obligation "to do" includes all kinds of work or service; while an obligation "to
by affidavits or other proof. give" is a prestation which consists in the delivery of a movable or an
immovable thing in order to create a real right, or for the use of the recipient,
The trial court, of course, must determine from the affidavits filed whether or for its simple possession, or in order to return it to its owner.
the defendant has interposed a sufficiently good defense to entitle it to
defend, but where defendant’s affidavits present no substantial triable issues xxx xxx xxx
of fact, the court will grant the motion for summary judgment.
In this case, petitioner wants this Court to believe that the abrupt change in
xxx xxx xxx the political climate of the country after the EDSA Revolution and its poor
financial condition "rendered the performance of the lease contract
The failure of the [petitioner] to append to its "Opposition" any "Affidavits" impractical and inimical to the corporate survival of the petitioner."
showing that its defenses were not contrived or cosmetic to delay judgment (Philippine National Construction Corporation versus Court of Appeals, et al.,
… created a presumption that the defenses of the [petitioner] were not 272 SCRA 183, at pages 191-192, supra)
offered in good faith and that the same could not be sustained (Unites States
versus Fiedler, et al., Federal Reported, 2nd, 578). The [petitioner] even failed to append any "Affidavit" to its "Opposition"
showing how much it had received from its construction contracts and how
If, indeed, the [petitioner] believed it that was prevented from complying with and to whom the said collections had been appended. The [petitioner] had
its obligations to the [respondent], under its contracts, it should have personal and sole knowledge of the aforesaid particulars while the
interposed a counterclaims for rescission of contracts, conformably with the [respondent] did not.
pronouncement of our Supreme Court, thus:
In fine, we rule and so hold that the CA did not commit any reversible error in
xxx xxx xxx affirming the summary judgment rendered by the trial court as, at bottom,
there existed no genuine issue as to any material fact. We also sustain the
CA’s reduction in the award of attorney’s fees to only P1,000,000.00, given
The [petitioner] did not. This only exposed the barrenness of the pose of the the fact that there was no full-blown trial.
[petitioner].
WHEREFORE, the assailed CA decision is AFFIRMED in toto and this
The [petitioner] may have experienced financial difficulties because of petition is DENIED for lack of merit.
the "1997 economic crisis" that ensued in Asia. However, the same does not
constitute a valid justification for the [petitioner] to renege on its obligations
to the [respondent]. The [petitioner] cannot even find solace in Articles 1266 Costs against petitioner.
and 1267 of the New Civil Code for, as declared by our Supreme Court:
SO ORDERED.
It is a fundamental rule that contracts, once perfected, bind both contracting
parties, and obligations arising therefrom have the force of law between the
parties and should be complied with in good faith. But the law recognizes
exceptions to the principle of the obligatory force of contracts. One exception
is laid down in Article 1266 of the Civil Code, which reads: ‘The debtor in
obligations to do shall also be released when the prestation becomes legally
or physically impossible without the fault of the obligor.’

Petitioner cannot, however, successfully take refuge in the said article, since
it is applicable only to obligations "to do," and not obligations "to give." An